One week Down…

Its Sunday morning in ABQ. Over night we received about 2 inches of very wet snow – it’s now about 10am and the brilliant sunshine has melted it all away from the city – but the mountains to the east are spectacular!

We have had an amazing week! The opening day of classes was filled with all of the orientation processes that need to happen – like where’s the bathroom and where’s the best place to park. We began the day with a circle – in fact we now begin each session (morning and afternoon) with a circle. It’s a really nice thing to do – we all just stand in silence holding hands and if you have anything to share with the group you do. For the most part it’s a time to center ourselves for the work we are about to do.

So far this week we have had four classes in Swedish Massage, one class in Flower Essences (which was very interesting) two classes in Polarity Therapy and one class in A&P. Each class runs for three hours and have been jammed packed with mind expanding “stuff”.

This pic is a drawing from the board that Lindsey drew (she’s our A&P teacher) – it shows the interior makings of a ‘long bone’ – did you know that the exterior of your, lets say Humerus is cover with a protective layer called Periosteum and that this is held to the ‘compact bone’ with a fibrous membrane called Perforating Fibers? Then inside our bones are cylinder shaped things called Osteon, which each have a Central Canal with a blood vessel that feeds our bones with nutrients and it goes on from there – these bodies that we are in are just fascinating!

The week has gone by very slowly – I even commented to a fellow classmate that we have been in ABQ for two weeks – but it has only been one! We have a theory about that – As kids, if you can remember, the days seemed long. For the most part each day was filled with something new and exciting. Because of this ‘newness’ we paid attention. As we age, we begin to fall into patterns and habits take control of our everyday lives – we stop really paying attention because the event or situation is so familiar that we don’t feel the need to. We are so bombarded with stuff every minute and we just say, ‘oh, I know what that is’ and you just keep moving on and time speeds by. When we slow down and start to really look at things as they come to us and I mean really look at them, time slows because we are taking the time to pay attention.

So, along with paying attention in class we have really stopped to pay attention to our surrounds – the skies here are fantastic!

Try it sometime, for one day really pay attention to what you are doing. Look, touch, smell, taste, discover and see if the day just might last longer.

So, the journey continues – we are studying every night – although we did take Friday night off! And, yes, we are paying attention. Things are great – we have our first test in A&P on Monday morning – this one’s on our bones! We, I, know that this is the right thing for us to do. Its not going to be easy but it will be doable. With four classes in Swedish message behind us – we have already begun giving messages to each other in class. The Polarity Therapy is really awesome – we even gave one to each other yesterday.

Nows its time to get back to the books – we have a lot of reading to do to get ready for Monday – and of course we have to continue to study for this test.

5 Comments

Rob and Steve were two of the first people I met while waiting in line to begin this journey! I’m so excited they have come to the place I call home and I’m looking forward to learning with them. It’s going to be great and I appreciate that you both have come “out West”!

How interesting
Robin and i were talking about this same concept this weekend
we had a very productive week
went out on saturday and remarked how it felt like it was 2 weeks long
and came up with the same idea

We had taken the time to pay attention

I think we talked about this a bit last time we hung out
and the quantum physicist michio kaku from the “what the bleep” movie
he did some experiments that showed the brain records everything
but throws away the parts we don’t need
the banal and boring static in the background

But in times of panic when the adrenaline is pumping
the brain slows it all down and allows you to see all those minute slices
in real time
Like when people in car accidents say “time seemed to stand still”

It is such a joy to be experiencing the wisdom and learning of this school with you both. Even though I live here in Albuquerque, it is a journey for me too and I am glad to be on such a walk with all the unique individuals of the class. Yay for the revolutionaries of alternative and loving modalities of healing!! I am so happy to be amidst it! 🙂